Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is a single-seat, twin-engine fifth-generation super-maneuverable fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology. It was designed primarily as an air superiority fighter, but has additional capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence roles. Operational history On 15 December 2005 the USAF announced that the Raptor had reached its Initial Operational Capability (IOC). During Exercise Northern Edge in Alaska in June 2006, 12 F-22s of the 94th FS downed 108 adversaries with no losses in simulated combat exercises. In two weeks of exercises, the Raptor-led Blue Force amassed 241 kills against two losses in air-to-air combat; neither Blue Force loss was an F-22. Shortly after was Red Flag 07-1 in February 2007. Fourteen F-22s of the 94th FS supported Blue Force strikes and undertook close air support sorties themselves. Against superior numbers of Red Force Aggressor F-15s and F-16s, 6–8 F-22s maintained air dominance throughout. No sorties were missed because of maintenance or other failures, and only one Raptor was judged lost against the opposing force's defeat. F-22s also provided airborne electronic surveillance. While attempting its first overseas deployment to the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, on 11 February 2007, six F-22s of 27th Fighter Squadron flying from Hickam AFB, Hawaii, experienced multiple system failures while crossing the International Date Line (or 180th meridian of longitude) caused by software errors. The fighters were able to return to Hawaii by following tanker aircraft. Within 48 hours, the error was resolved and the journey resumed. 90th Fighter Squadron performed the first F-22 NORAD interception of two Russian Tu-95MS 'Bear H' bombers over Alaska on 22 November 2007. Since then, F-22s have also escorted probing Tu-160 "Blackjack" strategic bombers. On 12 December 2007, General John D.W. Corley, USAF, Commander of Air Combat Command, officially declared the F-22s of the integrated active duty 1st Fighter Wing and Virginia Air National Guard 192d Fighter Wing fully operational, three years after the first Raptor arrived at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. This was followed by an Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI) of the integrated wing from 13 to 19 April 2008; it was rated it "excellent" in all categories, with a simulated kill-ratio of 221–0. The first pair of Raptors assigned to the 49th Fighter Wing became operational at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, on 2 June 2008. In December 2007, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne requested that the F-22 be deployed to the Middle East; Secretary of Defense Gates rejected this option. Time suggested part of the reason for it not being used in the 2011 military intervention in Libya may have been its high unit cost. On 28 August 2008, an unmodified F-22 from the 411th Flight Test Squadron performed in the first ever air-to-air refueling of an aircraft using synthetic jet fuel. The test was a part of a wider USAF effort to qualify aircraft to use the fuel, a 50/50 mix of JP-8 and a Fischer-Tropsch process-produced, natural gas-based fuel. Then in 2011 a Raptor made a supersonic flight on a 50% mixture of bio-fuel derived from camelina. In April 2012, the U.S. military deployed several F-22s to an allied base less than 200 miles from Iran. The Iranian defense minister called the deployment of stealth fighters to the UAE a security threat. The F-22s returned to the U.S. in January 2013 after the nine-month deployment. On 14 January 2013, 12 F-22 Raptors and 300 staff arrived at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. It is the seventh deployment since 2007 and will last four months. On 31 March 2013, a senior U.S. official confirmed F-22 Raptors had been deployed to Osan Air Base in South Korea from Japan to support ongoing U.S.-South Korean military Key Resolve/Foal Eagle drills. Category:Vehicles Category:Air vehicles Category:Planes Category:Fighters Category:Jets Category:Stealth Category:Ground Attack Category:Electronic Warfare Category:SIGINT Category:Modern